


The One You Know

by ani_bester



Category: Invaders, Marvel, Marvel 616
Genre: 1960s, Friendship, Gen, Pranks and Practical Jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2011-09-03
Updated: 2011-09-03
Packaged: 2017-10-23 09:22:48
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,041
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/248733
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ani_bester/pseuds/ani_bester
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>In order to try and help Toro adjust to modern day, Bucky has a surprise gift for Toro, which really, really worries Toro.</p>
            </blockquote>





	The One You Know

Toro starred at the present in Bucky's hand, his brow furrowed as he calculated the risk in even touching the small square box wrapped in green and gold.

"It's not my birthday," Toro commented, keeping his hands firmly in his pockets.

"Does a fella need a special event to give his pal a gift? C'mon, now." Bucky widened his brown eyes trying to recapture the innocent child look he had perfected in his youth.

Balking only a moment so Bucky didn't get immediate gratification, Toro removed one hand from his pocket and held it out as though he were are expecting a poisonous snake. He gave a half smile as Bucky put the present in his wary grasp. As Toro felt it's weight - the gift was heavy but not unusually so for its size- he considered the man who stood before him grinning with the same eagerness that had so often held the promise of a prank when they'd been sixteen. Bucky talked about being changed and a different person, especially when drunk, but Toro didn't think he was that different, not in the ways that mattered. And not when it came to a prank.

So, all the old rules of handling surprise gifts from Bucky were still in place.

Toro fingered the gold bow, which had to be someone else's handiwork; Bucky was never that neat, not unless it came to a "job". He considered shaking the box. But, although it was square, nearly perfectly so, it didn't feel like a box. Rather, the gift felt like there were multiple items stacked together.

"C'mon, it won't bite."

"Last time you said that, Buck, I opened it and it exploded ink."

"First that was funny, second, last time you weren't as in need of a present," Bucky responded. "Criminy, Toro, it's meant to cheer you up, not give you an anxiety attack!" Bucky narrowed his eyes and tried to look irritated and hurt. Toro, though, remembered that expression and held firm to his hesitation. After a few moments the irritation lifted from Bucky's expression and his self assured, damn infectious, smile reasserted itself.

"I promise it's a 'cheer Toro up gift,' not a 'make Bucky laugh' gift."

"So opening this will cheer me up?" Toro turned the present over and took a chance shaking it. It didn't explode, emit gas, or make any sounds or movements suggesting it contained anything alive.

"I hope so," Bucky's grin widened and his eyes lit up with eager anticipation.

Toro narrowed his eyes and held the gift out to Bucky.

Arms folded across his chest, Bucky rolled his eyes. "Ok, I accept that I deserve that for the snake incident-"

"And the squid incident, and the exploding pen, and-"

"All funny, but I swear, pal, it's harmless. Look, fine ruin the surprise. You mentioned the music on the radio bugged ya, so I got you some music I thought you'd like. CD's are a bit out of date these days, but I didn't want to thrust digital music on you yet."

Nodding in mute agreement that tangible was better; Toro felt his heart thud for a whole new reason. He clutched the present and hoped, for once, he could get away with bluffing Bucky. After all it was the thought that counted, and it wasn't Bucky's fault Bucky still thought of him and the 40's as one and the same.

"You think it's Glenn Miller, Duke Ellington and the Andrew Sisters, right?"

Toro's eyes flew open and he felt his cheeks warm. "Well maybe more Jazz, but-"

Bucky put on his best wounded face, which would have made Toro feel horrible if Bucky hadn't flicked his ear at the same time.

"Ow!"

"That's what you get, doubting Thomas," Bucky smirked without an ounce of apology in his eyes. "Open it before a flick the other one harder."

Scowling for show, Toro ripped the paper off the CD's. His façade slipped the moment he saw the first CD. The Best of the Doors, followed by Jefferson Airplane, and then Buffalo Springfield. As he flipped through them, his eyes got bigger and he couldn't keep his smile from widening. "How'd you-"

"What sort of spy would I be if I couldn't dredge up the kind of music you were listening to? Did you know that was in your FBI file?" The smile faded from Bucky's eyes as he put his hand on Toro's shoulder. "I toldja' I'd work on the whole 'you weren't frozen in the 40's' thing."

"I've got to ask something though, "Bucky interjected before Toro could respond to his last comment.

"Sure," Toro nodded still smiling as he kept flipping through the CD's.

 

"Well, Kate downloaded some of the music on those CD"s for me to hear because I was curious, and now I gotta know, Toro - Eve of Destruction, San Francisco, _White Rabbit_ \- Toro, were you a hippie?"

Toro felt his face turn bright red and before he could say a word Bucky was laughing out loud, his face lit up with delight.

"Oh god, _you were_!" Bucky laughed until he snorted. "Oh please tell me there are photos."

Toro felt his blush spread to his ears as he nodded meekly. "Ann took a lot actually," he answered, his gaze locked on Bucky's scuffed combat boots. He felt his arm grabbed and Bucky jerked him in the direction of the door so hard he nearly dropped all his CD's.

"C'mon, pal" Bucky laughed. "We're going back to your place to see Ann. My afternoon just got a lot more interesting!"

"One condition," Toro insisted, heating his arm up until Bucky let go.

Bucky turned around, eyebrows raised.

"You will listen to the Doors on the way over there. All the way over."

Bucky frowned. "The Doors? Honestly, Toro, they were on of my least favorite, too much electronic sounding…thing."

Toro smirked, "I guessed as much. Therefore, Light My Fire will be the first song we listen too."

Toro kept smirking as Bucky looked down and shook his head. But when he looked up again, his eyes were smiling. "Fair trade," Bucky said as he took hold of Toro's upper arm again.

This time, Toro let himself be dragged out the door.

**Author's Note:**

> Yes Bucky could have just asked Ann about Toro's CD's, but it was probably more fun to pull Toro's FBI file.  
> And I think Bucky works with enough shades of gray not to be too fussed about pulling an FBI file gathered by a paranoid loon. And I figure, given Toro fought for North Korea during the Korean War, even brainwashed, there is NO WAY, he did not have an FBI file. Also, in my head, he was and Ann probably were attending protests and such.


End file.
